In the last weekend I have never been stung by bees so many times. I was stung 3times and my 7year old ones.On sunday about 6 of us got stung. Its a huge hive and very agressive. What or who can we contact. people going up for climb please take stuff with if you are allergic.

They will be extra aggro when its hot! The bees are just a nuisance to some, but lifethreatening to others.Perhaps we need to explore relocating these "friends" in an ecofriendly environmentally sensitive national-park-happy kind of way - so they don't come back!There are plenty of other places they can reside that are not directly in conflict with us.

Wild bees are a rarety theses days due to human & other impacts. Do we really have the right to move them? Eagles at Bronkies, kestrels at Silvermine - the big & beautiful animals are getting our respect, as they should. But what about these little guys, who are a major player in the eco system?

Btw, do not approach them unless you really know what you are doing. A stirred hive is a frightful sight - saw mountainbikers get stung 300+ times at the recent Cape Pioneer. Be careful.

Guys this is a real problem, hence 4 threads on the topic. Now I am more of a bunny hugger than most, and I respect the right of the bees to exist in our mountains, they play a crucial role in the ecosystem visiting our fine flowers. To many people a sting is painful but ends there, a frenzy or swarm seriously painful but survivable. The thing is, to many of us who are allergic (significant percentage of people) a single sting is serious and a frenzy would be lethal (even carrying adrenaline etc). Picture a Tiger living on the walk in to Lakeside - now don't piss him off on your way past! Would we put up with that? YES (If he was a Cape Mountain Tiger) but we would manage it.

I propose a solution along the lines of the following, in order to keep both parties happy and healthy. As with other manageable conflicts, it is possible to co-exist. A competent beekeeper can relocate those hives not too far away, say 200m away from the path, without injuring them, and they would still live happily and service the plants of the same area they covered previously. They just wouldn't come into conflict with humans as often. The hidey hole under that big boulder would need to be filled to make it unattractive to return, otherwise they would be right back. Ditto for the hive on the cliff to the right of the routes.

And finally but importantly this would have to go through the right channels ie MCSA CNC etc with a legitimate environmental impact study.There is a way

Have previously investigated moving-hive options with pest-control-bee-keeping mate. Wild 'kraanz' bees are hard to remove at height & if in a crack/fisure, thus normaly they would poison them. Old hives will be re-occupied by the next swarm moving past. There are chemicals that can be used to deter them. Please stop yourselves! This is not the way forward.

Easier to relocate climbers. Uumm CT is suposed to be the center of climbing in SA(where it's happening). Go to another crag.

those bees are crazy. I am not allergic, but got stung by one of them there once. My whole freaking leg was swollen and pussing the next day (super miff I know).Lakeside anyway (in my opinion) is not a great crag, especially in summer where you literally fry during the day

Have previously investigated moving-hive options with pest-control-bee-keeping mate. Wild 'kraanz' bees are hard to remove at height & if in a crack/fisure, thus normaly they would poison them. Old hives will be re-occupied by the next swarm moving past. There are chemicals that can be used to deter them. Please stop yourselves! This is not the way forward.

Easier to relocate climbers. Uumm CT is suposed to be the center of climbing in SA(where it's happening). Go to another crag.

I have to agree. We already have access issues in CPT (Redhill, Blackhill etc). We shouldn't be taking these matters into our own hands over 3 or 4 good routes. We have endless amount of excellent rock in CPT.

I will speak to some beekeeper friends just to check on the feasability of an ecofriendly solution, I know the bee pheromone technology has come a long way recently. This situation is obviously still at the brainstorming phase, and even if we come up with some sensible ideas (if there turn out to be any), there would still be much ground to cover with the various authorities to make sure the right thing is done. I am open to the possibility that it might mean just learning to live with the status quo, but I think we owe it to ourselves to atleast have a think about it. The crag is hot and dusty and has some appalling routes on the old side, but it also has some real classics eg undercling route, and the new beginner routes on the right are really good climbing. We might have lots of rock but Lakeside has real accessibility for those with only a few hours to spare.Where else have we got a concentration of easy. routes 5mins from the road 5mins from the suburb? It would leave us with Higgovale! In the meantime please don't anyone jump the gun and go and poison the critters or try to smoke them out- this would be disastrous for climbers in the long term, and would achieve only temporary relief anyway. Bee nice. Unless the hive site is filled the boys will be back within weeks.

Dragon, I think a lot of people will really appreciate it if the bees could be moved. I am terrified to go climb there again. I would love to, but wont take that chance. It's not as though we go and poke the hive, they just attack. I hope you can help us out with this.

The bees should be fine if they are moved. Good luck to the ones who move them though!

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